Hatters walk away with victory against New Milford

DANBURY -- Danbury High senior Shane Andrews had two of the most impressive at-bats of the baseball game Thursday afternoon, and he didn't have to put the ball in fair territory either time.

With the bases loaded and the game tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, Andrews drew a two-out walk against New Milford pitcher

Elliot Linstrum
to give Danbury a 4-3 non-league victory.
Andrews' eighth-inning at-bat lasted seven pitches, with Linstrum bouncing the fourth ball in the dirt. In the previous inning Andrews crushed a few pitches foul down the left field line before drawing a walk against Linstrum on the 11th pitch of the at-bat.
"(Linstrum) was really wild," said Andrews, who went 1-for-2 with three walks. "His fastball was pretty straight, his curve didn't do much. When he threw the fastball I was right on them."
The win was an encouraging sign for the Hatters, who lost 10-0 to Stamford Wednesday afternoon in the season opener.
"Getting one game under our belt makes a big difference," said Danbury coach

Shaun Ratchford
. "We talked beforehand about over thinking the game, about not looking for things that aren't there. If he's throwing a fastball, look for the fastball; don't look for the slider that he hasn't thrown."
Sophomore
Robbie Meerman
opened the bottom of the eighth by destroying a pitch to the gap in right-centerfield for a double, and
Anthony Mannuccia
followed with a walk. Catcher
Mike Beers
hit a ball fairly deep to centerfield in the next at-bat, advancing Meerman and
Matt Stanley
(pinch running for Mannuccia) to second and third.

Brendan Melanophy
was intentionally walked to load the bases, but junior
Donald Miller
was retired on a weak liner to second base in the next at-bat.
Andrews followed, and fortunately for the Hatters, there weren't many pitches he wasn't ready for.
"I think (Linstrum) was (throwing) a little high," said New Milford coach
John Wrenn
. "(Danbury) had some great at-bats, but we've got to be able to get a hit, too."
Danbury had another bases loaded chance in the seventh. Three of the six Hatters that batted in the inning (Melanophy, Andrews, and
Jonathan Skidmore
) saw at least eight pitches in their at-bats, all reaching base.
Junior Ian Ratchford came up with two outs and the bases loaded, but his softly-hit ground ball between the pitcher's mound and first base was fielded by Green Wave first baseman

Andrew Eccles
and thrown to Linstrum, who was covering first, to just get Ratchford in time.
New Milford took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, after starter Mannuccia walked the leadoff batter and gave up an RBI double to
Jeff Sturm
. Another walk two batters later put runners at the corners with two outs, though Mannuccia struck out Linstrum on three pitches to get out of the inning.
Mannuccia went six innings, striking out four, walking seven, and giving up five hits on 107 pitches.
"We talked about leadership yesterday," said Ratchford. "He's been on varsity for three years now; you have to be able to adjust to the umpires, to the conditions. You just have to believe you can win with one pitch. He found a nice rhythm."
Danbury took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second when Skidmore and Ratchford executed back-to-back suicide squeeze plays, but New Milford responded in the top of the third with cleanup batter
Dylan Cochrane
's two-run single.
The Hatters eventually tied it at three with Beer's sacrifice fly to center field in the fourth.